Heads Up! With Thanksgiving, right around the corner, it is a terrific time to remind those of you who are (or will be) interviewing for professional schools, jobs and fellowships to send thank you notes. One of the standard steps of applying for opportunities, this type of professional correspondence is often overlooked by applicants. In many situations, a thank you note can be influential in moving you to the next stage in the process, or even obtaining an offer. As written in a previous blog, giving thanks is very powerful for both the writer and receiver(s). Here are some suggestions to help you craft a strong thank you letter.

Who? Send your letters to the primary person (Dean of Admissions, PI, manger, HR, or faculty member, student) who worked with you to coordinate your interview. If you met with more than one person, you can either send one letter addressed to the primary person and the committee/group who has interviewed you or individual letters. Thank your interviewers after each telephone, Skype, or video interview and after second and final rounds. Thank you notes can also be sent to acknowledge a network contact, mentor, informational interviewee, or recommendation writer.

What to Include? Thank you notes should be a short (one or two short paragraphs), signed and sent by you, to each opportunity that has interviewed you. While a hand-written personal note has historically been preferred, in today’s market, due to electronic application and communication during the job search process, it is appropriate to send an electronic thank you letter. Simply thank the interviewers for their time interviewing you, emphasize something that you learned or positively experienced during the interview, and briefly restate your interest in the position and it match with your skills and interests.

When? It is best to send your note within a few days after your interview. Sending an electronic letter is quick and can be beneficial because decisions for positions are made within a few hours to days after your interview. If you send it via US mail, that will take longer to be received and your interviewers will appreciate it as well.

Why? Also, as part of job search etiquette, we know that are very appreciative and professionally thankful to those who appreciate their efforts to hire them.

How? It is best to send an electronic thank you letter to assure that your letter is quickly received and easily can be added to your electronic file, and/or forwarded to the others on your interview. Handwritten letters or notes (sometimes bought in a store) are appropriate and will be well-received as well.

Please feel free to visit the OITE website to schedule appointments with career counselors and to learn about additional programs and resources to prepare you for your job search.

Lab and clinic life is can be demanding and relentlessly busy, resulting in schedules with little flexibility or time for impromptu absence. Unfortunately, the flu and similar bugs don’t care, and will circulate regardless.Meanwhile, experimental and clinical biology is difficult to pause. Your cells won’t split themselves, rounds need to be done, and maybe you can still make it in, plus or minus some medication to mask the symptoms.

But, should you? Losing a day could mean losing many days of progress, so the trade-off of that day off doesn’t look very valuable, does it?

You may also feel an unspoken and unhealthy pressure to demonstrate your dedication to your work by not taking time off due to personal discomfort. [(This can be seen as part of a broader culture, common in the sciences, of glorifying overwork simply for its own sake.)]

There’s a word to describe this action: presenteeism. This is the act of being at work when you really shouldn’t be. When you’re immersed in your work, it can be hard to think about much else, but there are times you should look up from that notebook, computer, or clipboard. First – look after yourself! A restful break might be exactly what you need to recover more quickly. Second – look beyond yourself! Particularly in seasons when infectious diseases are spreading, you ought to consider that not staying home has broader impacts than your own immediate schedule. The consequences of presenteeism include:

Potentially increased time being ill (and you want to minimize this, right?)

Loss of efficacy (you’re more likely to make mistakes.)

Loss of Productivity (you won’t be as capable as you think you might.)

Workplace epidemics (your co-workers will thank you for not being there.)

While you can’t hit ‘pause’ on your experiments, consider working out reciprocal or lab/group-wide arrangements where critical tasks could be temporarily reassigned. And when you do have to come in, precautions such as face masks and minimizing physical contact can be effective in preventing transmission. If you have to cancel something, remember that this happens to us all. Workplace outbreaks will spill into non-work environments, affecting families, children, and more. Ignoring your health and that of those around you can have long lasting and far-rippling costs you hadn’t thought of in that ‘stay home or not?’ calculus.

Like vaccines, preventing workplace outbreaks has a cumulative or “herd” effect – the more people who are mindful of their practices while ill, the more effective the strategy of illness reduction becomes for all.

Finally, keep in mind that we may work in an environment with people who are immunocompromised or otherwise highly susceptible to infectious disease. Staying home when you could spread something might seem like an inconvenience, but in reality can be crucial for promoting the NIH mission of public health. So, for your own sake, your co-workers’ sake, and the sake of our patients, please be mindful of the impacts of coming to work while infectious or feeling terrible. The cost of not taking time off may be far greater than you realize!

Now that you have applied for positions or graduate schools, the next step is that you will be contacted to set up interviews. While many recruiters and faculty utilize email as the primary form of communication, there is still a great possibility that you will be contacted by telephone. It important that you handle all communication in a professional manner to make the best impression possible. Here are some suggestions to help you!

Prepare your environment and support people for the calls in advance.

Record a professional greeting for your cell and land line so if you are away from the phone, your callers are greeted properly.

Suggested Script: “Hello you have reached the cell phone of {your name}. I am unable to take your call right now. Please feel free to leave a message with your phone number. I will return your call as soon as I am able.”

Let the phone go to the answering message If you are in a lab meeting, sick, asleep, taking care of children, driving, or in a busy noisy place, Call back soon afterwards.

Put the organization and into your phone contacts- then if someone calls, it will show up.

Ask your roommates and family members to answer the phone politely and to take messages if they answer your phone. Give them a script if you need to.

Suggested Script: Hello? (Your first and last name) is not here right now. May I take a message? Thank you for calling.”

Train yourself to answer all calls with a greeting and your name. Avoid answering with colloquial phrases or sounds such as “Hey” “Yeah,” or saying, “uh huh,” “right,” no problem” during the interview.

Suggested Script “Hello…this is Bill.”

If you are in a noisy place when the phone rings

Let the call go to your pre-recorded message. Listen to the message, then return the call shortly afterward when you are in a quiet place.

Suggested Script: “I am happy to hear from you XYZ” or “I look forward to communicating with you further about the position.”

End the call professionally and enthusiastically.

Suggested script: “Thank you for calling” or “I am happy that you called. I will follow- up with you with the items that you have requested. It was nice to speak with you.”

We invite you to review or various blogs about interviewing for a variety of positions. Please visit our website to make an appointment with a career counselor, register for workshops, or watch videos to help you prepare.